This story initially felt like a fantasy, as do so many of the tales I am sent by male readers, but as I chatted to 'Mike' more and more, online and by then phone, I started to believe it was real and to enjoy it considerably.
There are so many aspects of his narrative that ring true. Mike himself comes over as honest and open, if a less faithful husband than most wives would want. But then I am in no position to pass judgement on other people's fidelity.
Although all the names have been changed, the story is as Mike told me. He is happy it reflects what happened and indeed is still happening.
I hope you enjoy it.
***
Libby is the prettiest of my wife's many friends. A little taller than most, with a curvy figure, a sweet, pretty face, green eyes and shoulder length hair of a colour that depending on the light, varies between pale red and blonde, there is a soft femininity about her that appeals to the old-school gentleman in a man's soul.
I defy anyone, male or female, not to find both her and her rather shy personality very attractive.
What makes her appeal even stronger it that, alongside this sweetness lies a distinct but low-key sexiness; an aura of fertility that is entirely unintentional, but no less powerful for that; an unspoken promise of warm, deeply satisfying physical pleasure for the rare few lucky enough to experience it.
It is a promise on which she delivers in abundance. I know this better than most because, with her husband's full knowledge and grudging approval, for the last three years, I have been Libby's lover.
My wife Jane and I first met Libby and her long-time partner James over twenty years ago. It was at a fourth of July party organised by American friends we met through the junior school that our two children attended.
As friends of friends, we got on well in an undemanding, casual way and over the coming years, got to know each other better by being at many of the social events that punctuate life when your kids are growing up.
Despite having lived together for many years and having two school-age children, Libby and James are not married. I knew through my wife that Libby was not happy about this; coming from rural farming stock, marriage was expected and she pointedly uses her maiden name at all times as if to make it clear that any lack of commitment on was on her partner's side, not her own.
Just why James refuses to take this last step into matrimony remains unclear. Maverick by nature and background, he is still good looking and can charm most of our circle of friends, male or female.
James played in a band in his past - still does in fact - and is rumoured to have been pretty wild in his youth until brought up short by the discovery of a genetic heart defect. Indeed, there were rumours that he still had a long-standing relationship with another woman somewhere nearby but despite all that has happened, I have never been close enough to him to find out the truth.
Jane and I used to meet each other at parties and events organised by mutual friends rather than being close friends with them ourselves. We got on well though when we did meet, and for me it was always a delight to have Libby to myself for chat, however brief.
Now let me say right now that before my arrangement with Libby, I had been faithful to my wife Jane throughout our marriage. I am a fairly good-looking guy and have always found women easy to get on with, so over the years more than one opportunity to stray had come my way, but I had never taken up any of them.
Jane is a lovely person to live with. She is mid height, has a fuller figure than she would like and a heart-warmingly pretty face, but the truth is that she has never really enjoyed sex and has tried to avoid it most of our marriage.
Apart from in the first years of our relationship, she has never been adventurous in bed and has always expected me to do the work. As our kids arrived her interest waned further and when she became menopausal, her libido collapsed, and our couplings grew rarer and rarer until the last ten years where an entire year of sexual encounters could be counted on the fingers of one hand. And even those copulations had become very perfunctory, with no real participation on her part.
Of necessity, my own libido had moderated a little over the years but as with most married couples, there was still a significant mismatch. I don't offer this as an excuse for what happened. Still, until the events of this story I had no intention of finding another sexual outlet -- other than those that can be enjoyed in private and online.
These I still quietly enjoy, as my telling this story to Jenny makes obvious.
I suppose for me, the story begins with a dinner party at James and Libby's house.
It was Saturday night and we were two of six guests. Although Jane had visited Libby's house many times, it was my first visit, so we were both pleased and surprised to be invited. The evening passed well; to my delight I was placed between Libby and Cathy, a tall, slender friend of my wife's from the same social circle to which Jane and I were peripheral. Jane herself was placed between our host James and Cathy's husband.
I was pleased they would keep her entertained well throughout the evening.
The food was excellent; Libby is known to be a good cook and was so well organised that she was only occasionally absent from my side. For me this wasn't an issue, I enjoyed talking to both my companions but of course made the most of our hostess while she was present.
I have to say that I enjoyed the evening enormously. Both Cathy and Libby were bright, interesting people as well as being attractive, though I have to admit I did address the majority of my attention to the fuller, prettier golden-haired figure on my right.
Every so often I would look across to make sure Jane wasn't being neglected or bored by the two men either side of her, but she looked happy and in her element all evening.
As we left, we shook hands or kissed our hosts goodnight as usual. Libby offered her cheek in a perfectly normal way, but as he took my hand in his, her husband leaned in slightly and said under his breath.
"Can I call you next week? I have an idea you might be interested in."
"Of course," I replied. "I'm free Monday and Tuesday afternoon if either of those suits you?"
I thought there was a strange, almost pained expression on his face. Libby must have thought so too because she was watching him intently as he spoke to me.
***
The rest of the weekend passed as normal doing household and family things. By Monday lunchtime I had all but forgotten James' parting words, so it was a surprise when just before three o'clock, my phone rang with a number I did not recognise.
"Hello! Mike here," I answered.
"Mike! It's James. Are you free to talk?"
"James? Oh, James!" I replied, quickly recalling his words. "How are you? How's Libby? We had a lovely time on Saturday. Thank you so much."
"It was our pleasure. I mean it. It was great to have you two around. And especially nice to have you for the first time."
We chatted for few minutes about inconsequential stuff then James directed the conversation towards the main reason for his call. I could tell by the changing tone of his voice that he had moved into a more serious mode.
"You remember I said I had a proposition to talk to you about?"
"Yes," I replied. "An idea you said. A business idea I assume?"
As an investor, it wasn't unusual for friends to ask my advice on opportunities they were presented with. I never invested in friends' businesses -- that way lies mutual unhappiness -- but I was always willing to offer my own perspective.
"Actually no," James said. "Not business at all. It's more... personal."
I settled back in my office chair.
"Tell me..."
There was a pause as if my friend was trying to think how to start.
"It's quite an unusual idea," he eventually began. "And I hope I can trust you to keep it private."
"Of course," I replied, intrigued.
"It's not an easy thing to talk about," he began slowly and hesitatingly, as if about to convey some embarrassing news. "But you know about my heart issues, don't you?" He laughed self-deprecatingly. "Everyone knows about them; I've talked about it enough."
I did of course and said so with the appropriate level of concern and sympathy.
"Well, I've been on some heavy-duty medication for years and I've just been told I will probably be on it for the rest of my life."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I replied, genuinely concerned.
"That's okay," he grinned. "The meds are working and I'm still alive and kicking. The problem is that these drugs come with some equally heavy-duty side effects."
He was speaking slowly and meaningfully as if leading up to something big.
"One of those side effects is that I suffer badly from... erectile dysfunction."
"I'm really sorry to hear that," I frowned, wondering why he was telling me this most intimate fact.
"The truth is, that I haven't been able to get it up at all for over three years. It's likely that I will be on these meds for life and never will get it up again. Libby and I haven't had a proper sex life ever since and it's started to affect our marriage."
"I... I don't know what to say," I told him both truthfully and inadequately.
"You don't need to say anything. Just hear me out. This isn't easy for me."
I could well imagine but still wondered why he wanted me to know now.
"She'd hate it if she knew I was telling you this, but Libby has a very high libido."
I laughed.
"Can Jane come and stay with her for a bit? Some of it might rub off."
He laughed too, but hollowly.
"It's not as big a bonus as you might think," he told me. "If a woman needs sex and her man cannot even penetrate let alone satisfy her, then their marriage is under threat. And Libby has been far from satisfied for years now."
I raised an eyebrow in silent question. There was a long pause.
"She and I have talked it over many times," he continued. "She assures me it doesn't matter, but we both know it matters a lot. We've tried every kind of assistance we can find; every kind of medication, every kind of device but nothing has worked. Either the erection meds conflict with my heart meds or they just don't work at all. The devices get us part way but they're no substitute for the real thing."
He paused as if telling me all this had been traumatic for him, which no doubt it had. It can't be easy for a husband to tell any other man that he was incapable of making love with his wife, but why he felt to need to tell me was still a mystery.
"With Libby's libido always unsatisfied and me feeling inadequate, the tension between us has become unbearable; we're both permanently frustrated, and it's led to some pretty big rows. Okay they are usually sparked by something trivial, but we both know what the real cause is."
"I'm so sorry James," I commiserated.
I wasn't sure how my own marriage would survive a complete and permanent absence of sex. Jane would probably love it, but how would I cope?
But he hadn't finished.
"Anyway, once we learned that an operation was not possible and that I would be on strong medication permanently, we decided that the strain on us was too much. It wasn't fair for Libby to be forced into celibacy for the rest of her life because of my condition. It was putting our relationship at serious risk."
I could well imagine but was still unsure where this was going.
